Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comment
. 2015 Dec 3;528(7580):49-50.
doi: 10.1038/nature15649. Epub 2015 Nov 4.

Brain cancer: Tumour cells on neighbourhood watch

Harald Sontheimer  1
Affiliations
Comment

Brain cancer: Tumour cells on neighbourhood watch

Harald Sontheimer. Nature. .

Abstract

The discovery of microtube structures that link tumour cells in some invasive brain tumours reveals how these cancers spread, and how they resist treatment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. A network of neighbours
Osswald et al. report that, in some types of brain tumour, structures called microtubes connect tumour cells, allowing them to act as a single, organism-like unit. Tumour microtubes facilitate invasion into healthy brain tissue. They permit the spread of toxic molecules such as calcium ions (Ca2+) that build up during radiation therapy, allowing the whole unit to share the burden of toxicity. Furthermore, if tumour tissue is surgically removed, newly synthesized nuclei donated by tumour cells can travel down the microtube to the cell-free site to form new tumour cells.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment on

  • Brain tumour cells interconnect to a functional and resistant network.
    Osswald M, Jung E, Sahm F, Solecki G, Venkataramani V, Blaes J, Weil S, Horstmann H, Wiestler B, Syed M, Huang L, Ratliff M, Karimian Jazi K, Kurz FT, Schmenger T, Lemke D, Gömmel M, Pauli M, Liao Y, Häring P, Pusch S, Herl V, Steinhäuser C, Krunic D, Jarahian M, Miletic H, Berghoff AS, Griesbeck O, Kalamakis G, Garaschuk O, Preusser M, Weiss S, Liu H, Heiland S, Platten M, Huber PE, Kuner T, von Deimling A, Wick W, Winkler F. Osswald M, et al. Nature. 2015 Dec 3;528(7580):93-8. doi: 10.1038/nature16071. Epub 2015 Nov 4. Nature. 2015. PMID: 26536111

References

    1. Stiles CD, Rowitch DH. Neuron. 2008;58:832–846. - PubMed
    1. Central Brain Tumour Registry of the United States. Statistical Report: Primary Brain and Central Nervous System Tumors Diagnosed in the United States in 2004–2008. CBTRUS; 2012.
    1. Osswald M, et al. Nature. 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature16071. - DOI
    1. Sontheimer H. In: Diseases of the Nervous System. Sontheimer H, editor. Academic; 2015. pp. 259–288.
    1. Seifert S, Sontheimer H. J Physiol (Lond) 2014;592:5109–5127. - PMC - PubMed